June Holidays and the Young Talent Project 2013

This June holidays, I felt, had been a holiday most well spent for Renee and being so, it had, in Renee's own words, 'seemed longer' too, :).

Since the time she's started formal schooling last year, I've been looking forward to these school holidays when we can relax abit on her daily routine and look forward to some outings/fun, but not this June.

From the very first day of the holidays, she's had her violin exam at Nafa and then, concert(Vienna's) rehearsal the next. 

On Monday, together with the other 9 grand finalists of the Young Talent Project 2013(the finals were held a couple of wks ago), she was at Mediacorp's for an interview and some publicity activities.  Needing a mobile phone replacement(my i4's damaged by Rachel, :D), we were dropped off at Paragon and ended up with a Samsung S4(papa's choice).  Then, it turned out that it was only the LCD screen of my i4 that was damaged and repairable at a minimal cost of $70, not like what the staff at M1 had advised - its motherboard damaged...

Tuesday, as we have not packed the luggages, I planned to have a nice quiet dinner at home but papa thought it'd be nice for all of us to dine out and we could also try to get a new pair of sneakers for Renee, for the trip.  The unpleasant experience at the Streats restaurant(they had refused to let Rachel have her own home-prepared food and she was crying whilst we repacked the food back into its container before leaving the place in frustration) spoilt our mood, but as we were already too late to go back to Swensons(need to re-que), we headed for a quick bite at Macdonald's.  I've already lost my appetite by then...  Luckily, we managed to grab what we needed at the last minute and rushed home to complete the packing.  When it was time to leave for the airport, Renee came out of her room, hugging her meimei and crying sadly.  Why? Well, we had initially planned to go on this trip as a family but we had to cancel my and our toddler's tickets when we were informed later, that the arrangements might not be convenient/suitable for our younger one afterall, haiz.  We had to forfeit a  good amount of the ticket fares(both SQ's and the internal flights in Europe) as a result.  Anyway...  Renee cried all the way from home to the airport and our little one wasn't spared the separation agony too.  She kept crying for chehcheh and papa and was so tired that she dozed off sobbing.  I was prepared for the 'saying goodbye' part but I didn't expect that she'd wake up every 20-30 mins after I left her in the room, thinking that she's fallen deep asleep....   However, it didn't take her long to recover from her 'sadness' and was 'okay' the next day onwards.. Perhaps, she really  understood the need of papa and chehcheh going on this trip.  Of course, my being home with her and the rather frequent visits from my sisters had helped too I supposed, and I'm truly thankful for that.  Rachel even got cosy with my gf, Vicky, when she came over, :).

15 days passed quickly and Rachel was really excited abt their return(18/6)  but the holiday mood had to 'end' for Renee as she had only a few days left, to prepare for the Gala Concert.  Due to jet lag, the few days following their return were really bad, and though there had been some practices, they were minimal and hardly of any quality as Renee was constantly feeling lethargic and sleepy...

Then, on the same week, we received a pleasant surprise! - an invitation by the Symphony92.4FM, to go on an exclusive live interview on the news radio 938Live(on the 25/06, 7am) with their VP, Ms Wang Ya-Hui, whom is a renowned International conductress before she joined the Mediacorp.  We are honoured and thankful for this special opportunity...

Ms Wang had kindly arranged a violin loan for us and although we were presented with 2 newly custom-made ones, 1 of which came with a really good bow.  Unfortunately, Renee's unable to use the violin as the bow's much shorter than what she's currently using and we also did not want to paste any cushion padding(which Renee would feel uncomfortable without...) onto the instrument(s).

On 26/06, Renee was dropped off at Mediacorp's, for a pre-event get together session with the hosts and on the 27/06, Rachel was brought to my sister, Eileen's home, as I had to stay with Renee at Mediacorp(for some sound tests/runs, which lasted til ard 8pm).  Prior to bringing Rachel over, I've actually prep-ed her, letting her know that we needed to put her there as I was required to accompany chehcheh's somewhere(related to violin).  She seemed to understand the situation when I spoke to her and told me that she will not cry when there. She really kept to her words, but maybe Li being there to keep her company had  helped too.

28/06 - the day which all these rushing/preparations were all about/for, was most exciting for Renee.  As required, we had arrived at the tv theatre since around 1pm+, for the final sound-tests/runs and whilst the pianist(s) were allowed to go off for the break at mid-afternoon, we had to stay behind.  Many were seen practicing during the wait-in-between hours but we didn't quite manage to find a quiet corner to let her do it, so I simply let her have a break.  She did however practice abit on her own during dinner break(teacher had also stayed around).

Parents were given complimentary VIP tickets for the event but with Renee being so young and nervous, I thought I had better stay at the back stage.  She had said it was ok for me to leave her there by herself, but I felt I should just be there for her.  Fortunately, I did, 'cos when it was near her turn to perform, she was sooo nervous that she almost cried.....  Facing a big event like this(a competition that's going on tv...) for the 1st time, I guess it's natural for someone as young and inexperienced as her to feel such great anxiety, nevertheless, I still felt for her. However, there's really nothing much I could do at that moment but to tell her that, at that point, it's no longer about winning as we're already very pleased for her to have come this far, and all she needed to do was simply to enjoy her playing/music.  Needless to say, the words didn't work its magic and she was still extremely nervous and had played the piece abit too fast, :).  Although we can't blame her for her nervousness, we hope that this experience can/will help guide her on how to gain more control over her nerves and playing for her future competitions/public performances(if any)...


*This event/competition has been a great learning experience for Renee and though she didn't win the competition, we all felt that she's already done a great job to have come this far and compete at the grand finals against experienced performers and award winners(something which we only noted later from the programme agenda provided).

We thank all whom had gone to the tv theatre to render their support to Renee that day and our sincere appreciation to her teacher for his dedication and moral support...

As requested by the station, I am unable to upload her performance on that day but, for the benefit of those whom would like to listen to her playing the piece, here's another video:

http://youtu.be/lktU-mGWCGk

Rachel's 2!

Time flies, realllllllly flies and today, we celebrated Rachel's 2nd birthday!

 

During the cake cutting session of her 1st birthday celebration, Rachel had behaved alittle shy/wary of the people/crowd, kind of resembled Renee(when she was younger) and thus, I had not expected her reaction today! Anticipating that she might not do as bidded, she surprised us by blowing off the candles willingly, and not just once, hahaha.  I know, this is just a normal gesture to some, but with the idea that some coaxing would be needed, this unexpected reaction did appear cute-sy to us, :D. She was just sooo 'ok' with the whole thing and I wished we've had that moment recorded in motion video, arrrrghhhh...  But, luckily, a quick browse through my camera, there are still some photos that my sister had captured, so I guess it's a *phew*(better than none right?), :D

With all the guests over at our place, the birthday girl must be sooo tired without her nap, 'cos after finishing up the bun her chehcheh gave her, she climbed onto my lap, snuggled close to me and fell asleep, almost immediately! hahaha. She even voiced out her displeasure when I told her that she needed to take her chinese medicine(to clear the remnants of her cold) and brush her teeth, hahaha. So papa said to let her be... :)

Renee's 8th Birthday Bash

Although we've initially planned to hold a princess party for Renee(promised to her should she get selected as a soloist at Nafa's concert), the party theme was amended to accomodate the boys(as some of her classmates have boy siblings whom wanted to come along) too.  In any case, the girls were still encouraged to dress as their favourite princess for the fun of it.

 

Good thing I've gotten the goodie bags packed up a couple of nights ago(which caused me really bad backache), so all we had to concentrate on today, would be the decoration of the function hall and the preparation of finger food for the kids.

 

Having never encountered any such 'problem' at other premises before, it did not occur to us that we should perhaps double-confirm our booking with the management(however, this job was delegated to the guards!) and when we went down to check if we could go there slighly earlier to do our set-up, we were greeted with a super unpleasant surprise - they have taken a double booking for the hall and the other party had already set-up there(and they told us can only go there at 4:30pm!)!

 

With the caterer already there and no other choice, we were left only with the option to hold our party at the lobby @the ground level.  Fortunately, the weather was cool today but what I didn't like is that the floor outside the clubhouse is wet(rained) and it's 'open' and near the pools(which can be dangerous to any unsupervised children around).  Again, we're fortunate that the party group is small and thus, manageable(with most of the attendees' caregiver present).

In any case, all's well in the end and Renee had a great time with her friends and that's what really matters, :)

 Birthday girl, 1st on line to have her face painted ^-^

When I realised that we could actually opt for arm painting instead(when 1 of the
girls refused to have her face painted and I suggested painting on her arm),  I quickly asked
Renee if she'd like that too(though I was glad that she had spontaneously went for the face painting).
But she refused to let me take a photo of her before whatever's already painted on
her face was removed, hahaha

But... Gotcha! :)

 

The decorations, thks to my sis, Li...

 

Even the boys got it too! 

Rachel and friends, ^-^

Games time!

 

 

Should have taken a peek/photo of the cake straight upon its delivery, the

fondane's started to melt(forgot to tell them that I don't want any fondane!) and we
decided to leave the toy/doll decoratives out(packed separately for us)...

Some of the guests/friends have already left by this time...

My family came up to our 'new' place when the guests have left the

clubhouse and teasing Renee, they asked her to lie with her presents

for a photo take but she made her meimei do it instead!

And laughed herself silly, tsk tsk tsk, ^-^

She was finally persuaded to join her sister, lolz

 

 

Weaning IV

Today's the 6th day of weaning and during this period, I'd try occasionally, asking Rachel if she'd like to latch but most of the time, she'd remember the taste of bittergourd and declined.  However, she still yearns to latch during those moments when she woke up in the middle of the night and, when she 1st woke up in the morning.  She would kick her legs in frustrations and during the last 2 days, she even told me "ma ma, go" when she realised that she couldn't latch, :(.

Yesterday, she woke up rooting for the breasts(even lifting up my top at the nursing opening, yeah she knows where, haha and yes, I'm still wearing them-homewear & outing's[can't wait to wear 'normal clothes' soon], for ease of expression to relieve engorgement) and surprisingly, she almost, just almost, took to latching again!  Thinking that she should be almost weaned-off by now, I pretended to let her to latch and she must still be feeling abit goggy from the sleep, 'cos she opened her mouth to! Luckily, I was awake and so, managed to pull back on-time and gently reminded her "bitter bitter, you want?", immediately she declined, heeeee.  Then she got abit frustrated and since it's already almost 9am, I decided to wake up with her and teased her out of her aggitation, :).

Another thing,  I woke up this morning with rashes and abit of hives on some areas and initially, I thought that I've got bed bugs but the symptoms/signs that followed later didn't seem so and the doctor told me that they aren't and are more likely to be some allergy reaction.  Felt abit better after the medicine, but still went out to get a new comforter set, heeee(waste $ again...).  A mummy friend just told me that this could also be due to my hormonal reaction since I'm weaning bf now...  I hope it is too...

 

Til now, I would still feel abit sad about having to wean her off and many told me that this is a very normal hormonal reaction but I feel I'm hving it alot worser this time round.  Then again, I had been alot more emotional during my pregnancy with Rae as well(even during confinement period), so I guess this is really normal in a way for me, :*(.  I only hope that she'd lose her urge to latch totally real soon and that she'd take to drinking milk again some time soon...

Weaning III

It's day 3...

 

Things were alittle better last night, though she still woke up feeling aggitated, it was less aggressive than the 1st night.  She still kicked her legs in frustration when she woke up in the middle of the night...

 

Today, it seems like she's finally getting the idea but she still appeared frustrated and though I know it might be due to her being weaned-off bf, I tried not to give in too much to her tantrums.

 

She also tends to wake up earlier these days but it was nice that she asked to sit on my lap this afternoon, after her lunch(just before cheh cheh comes back from school), and fell asleep... Awwww, this is what I've been wanting her to do since she's a few months old, :).  I don't know how long this will last and I certainly hope it'd be here to stay.   However, I told myself to totally enjoy this precious moment whilst I could(but I still put her down onto her bed shortly to avoid it becoming another habit to be weaned off...)

 

I've just managed to tuck her to bed and I'm not sure how things will turn out tonight, I hope she'd soon get over this and sleep through the night without any fuss again, like she did when she's around 2 months old...

Weaning II

It's day 2 and we both woke up zombie-d...

 

Not long after she'd fallen asleep last night, in fact, just 45mins later, she woke up crying... Then it's every other hour and it's driving me nuts.  However, I had to keep my cool for her.

 

At one point, hubby told me to just let her latch and start again today but hello? I've only just re-started it yesterday, I'm not going to give up now that we are going to put a stop to it!  It's not going to give her the correct signal if I give in to her this time round, isn't it?

 

In any case, she woke up at 8am+ today and refused to go back to sleep.  She insisted that I wake up and go out of the room with her, refusing to let papa carry her, haiz...

 

Yawning the morning away, she 'tahan-ed' all the way til about 3pm when she finally fell asleep, sitting on my lap, from watching the going-ons out of our bedroom balcony and I prayed that she would have a good nap before I went to catch a short one myself.(15-20mins into my nap, Renee came in and asked if she could take a break from her practice, haiz...)

 

2 hours+ later, she woke up feeling more energised with better mood and was finally eating her dinner but now I dread to think about bedtime tonight...  Wish me luck!

Weaning

For the benefit of both of us, I have no choice but to give the bf weaning another go.

Again, I chose to start from the day and as we both woke up late at around 9:30am today, the weaning proces 're'-began from that fateful hour...

 

Was told to apply some balsam cream on the nipples but fearing that it might be too 'hot' for her, my sis Eileen suggested using bittergourd instead.  I had thought it a better idea and had in mind to use either that or lemon to deter her from latching.  Luckily for me, I've bought a new bittergourd from the supermarket the other day and the moment she requested for milk some time later, I cut a slice of the gourd, rub it onto my 'n's(both sides, just in case) and though I didn't taste much of it from the slice, Rachel rejected latching right away.

 

The morning was still ok but she couldn't take her nap due to the 'inability' to latch and at around 5pm+, she finally couldn't take it further and asked to latch again.  I rubbed another fresh slice of the bittergourd again and hving seen me performing this act earlier, she quickly realised what's in store for her and refused to latch.  I was in and out of the bedroom with her sooooo many times that I felt as tired as her(if not more...).  Eventually, my hormones reacted again and I started to tear... She saw me tearing and had thought it funny at 1st, thinking that I was trying to trick her but when she realised that I was really crying, she came to me, stroked my hair and arm, hugged and kissed me.  Then when I spoke to her, she pouted and wanted to cry with me, that made me feel even sadder...  Arrrrghhh, I really wish this ordeal would be over soon!  Good thing, being the bubbly her, she soon recovered, went in search of tissue paper, took 1 piece and started to wipe my tears away, before she tried to make me smile again, oh my precious Rachel, I really hope this ordeal wouldn't be so difficult for you and I wish it'd be over soon...

 

Finally, she fell asleep on the high chair after 2 spoonfuls into her dinner, poor thing...  And I took the opportunity to quickly have our delivered pizza with Renee.

 

Then the most feared hour came, Bed-time and as anticipated, she couldn't tolerate and asked to latch again.  I pretended to give in to her but remembering the bitter taste, she didn't dare to take it...  She cried, she fussed, she vented her anger(by facing the wall, :<), begged me(but yet daren't latch)...  I coaxed, I coo-ed, I sayang-ed, I played with her and even with her favourite - having her back scratched, couldn't get her to sleep...  Finally, just half an hour ago, she finally gave-in to lethargy and finally fell asleep and I dread to think what will happen later when she awoke midway....(not forgetting the engorgement I'm feeling the whole day now)...

 

 

Welcoming 2013

I believe many, parent or not, feel the same and that is, Time flies!

It seemed like not too long ago, our Renee was just entering P1 and today, she's attended her 1st day of P2!

 

There had been excitements, adjustments, new friends and even 'experiments' and at the end of the year, although I hadn't the time nor energy to coach Renee with her work, I was still alittle disappointed that she didn't get to the top 3 or 10 within just her class, but with her 90+ mark for all her subjects(though there was a 80+ for her Chinese during the 1st term), I'm contented.  Then suddenly one day, I received a Certficate of Academic Achievement from the MOE, for being in the top 25% in terms of academic performance in the level and course and good conduct in school!  This came in as a really pleasant surprise to me and I hope this would help boost her confidence('cos she's been feeling kinda sad that she didn't come in 1st 3 in the class/school).

Anyway, P1 level is known to be easy and there are going to be new and perhaps tougher challenges which I hope she'd be able to cope well and that, this new year will bring her more learning opportunities, both academically and in the music region.

Another Failed Attempt in Weaning II

Since this morning, Rachel's requests to latch for milk had been declined and though super heartaching, I persevered all the way til her nap time. 

 

Earlier, I had tried to express milk into a bottle and I thought, if Rachel had watched the expression, she might take to the milk knowing that it's my milk afterall, but I soon found out that the suction of the breastpump is no longer competant compared to a toddler's suckling and I didn't manage to get alot of milk out.  She had been making light requests to latch whilst I was expressing but would gently stroke my arms, kiss me when I told her that I couldn't feed her.  From this scenario, I thought, hey, I may succeed afterall but no...  Around noon, her requests to latch got stronger and when I offered her the bottled EBM, she strongly refused, recalling the taste she'd experienced last night(she covered her mouth)... She even lost her apetite over lunch and I began to wonder if I'm forcing it too strongly on her.  Not all kids react readily to the weaning process at the same age after all.  With half finished lunch, she cried, she 'begged' "mama please, mama please...." and cried non-stop.........

 

Normally, she wouldn't lie on my shoulder for more than 5seconds but today, when I told her that I'd carry her to sleep(when I refused to nurse her), she lied on my shoulder for the longest time, sobbing away, and when I told her that I'd carry her on my arms til she sleeps, she didn't protest either...  Minutes later, all the cryings must have made her really tired 'cos she showed big signs of falling into sleep and she even allowed me to put her on her bed and pat her to sleep! I kissed her cheeks just before she fell into dreamland and told her that I love her and that she's done well and I saw a smile on her tear-stained face, :(.

 

The above brief narration does seem to make my weaning process seemed successful, doesn't it? But no, it's not...  Soon, I caught on the 'mummy weaning bug' - hormonal changes...  Surprisingly, this came on super fast!  Signs of depression slowly seeped into me and before I knew it, I was tearing away at the laptop, whilst making payment online!(Good thing Renee had gone to the pool with the helper, else I'd have to face her numerous questions and I don't think I'd be ready for that).  Earlier, whilst googling for tips on a less traumatic weaning process for Rachel, I came upon an article that told me that bf weaning will also affect the mother due to hormonal changes when she stops breastfeeding.

 

Although b/fed, Rachel is not as attached to me as Renee had been but during this short weaning period, she showed signs of clinginess, separation anxiety and she kept 'mama please, mama please' me..... I guess I'm also not ready to wean her, and decided to give ourselves abit more time.

When Rachel awoke from her nap, she smiled at me but pouted immediately when I 'pretended' to deny her of her request to latch again...  Even after I've given in to her request(I continue telling her that I'd need her to stop latching one day soon), she still clung to me like never before...

 

In any case, out of love for the kid, I've failed in my weaning mission and for now, I can only pray that she would one day, soon, self-wean herself off b/feeding...